Forget the cinematography, lighting and production/art design credits on Dario Argento films. His work shows how much these elements can be the result of the director, and in Dario's case, it's obvious it's all him. His genius in those areas is so pronounced that even in films like Lamberto Bava's Demons or Michael Soavi's The Sect, where Argento only gets a co-producer and co-writer credit, it's obvious that he also had a hand in cinematography, lighting and production/art design.(read more...)

Alien Resurrection doesn't have any profound subtexts like Alien3. Like Aliens, it's more "Hollywoodish" than Alien or Alien3, but it's not quite as bombastic, or as successful as Aliens. But, it's not that far removed from Aliens as a prime cut of Hollywood action cum sci-fi horror, and unlike Aliens, Alien Resurrection retains much of Alien's atmosphere, making Sigourney Weaver right in her claim that it plays a bit like a genetic splicing of the first two films, which is appropriate. (By the way, I recommend a scorecard to keep all the "Alien" titles straight.)(read more...)

Ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, Edward D. Wood, Jr., bad movie king, had a tinge of genius? Shudder if you will, but consider it. Modern indie filmmaker Kevin Smith has taken at least one of Wood's narrative devices: a consistent universe.

A consistent universe involves a series of movies that are not sequels, but have at least one recurring character or location. Films contained in a consistent universe do not usually contradict, and may, on occasion, refer to each other. They basically create one world in which all the films are set.(read more...)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Okay, the title implied more than the movie was able to deliver but it is still a classic of modern terror. Tobe Hooper made the film with barely more than one camera and a crew of people whose enthusiasm was greater than their acting ability. Allegedly based on the true life exploits of Ed Gein, the movie took great liberties. The family in TCM are unemployed slaughterhouse workers and in real life Ed lived alone. While he never actually admitted to eating human flesh when police finally gained access to his Plainfield Wisconsin home they found human hearts cooking in a stewpot on the stove and a refrigerator full of "venison" which was later proved to be human in origin. Also, Ed never used a chainsaw.(read more...)

I was in the initially small but increasingly vocal minority who didn't care much for the first Blair Witch film. Although at least some Blair Witch Project (BWP) advocates say otherwise, it's hard for me to believe that those who champion the film (the portion of them who weren't paid by Haxan and/or Artisan to say they enjoyed it) aren't doing so for mainly political reasons which amount to being not only anti what they consider teen-oriented horror (but which may just be a function of their aging), as if aiming for a teen audience is anything new in the genre, and anti-Hollywood and big budget films in general.(read more...)

Not quite as good overall as Aliens, the second film in the series, but still a cut above Alien, in my opinion. Alien3 has a different flavor than its predecessors, and despite claims made for them, this one actually has a subtext. Unfortunately it also has flaws that knock a couple points off its rating.(read more...)

It's not easy to make a Dracula film. Ever since Tod Browning's 1931 version starring Bela Lugosi, at least, filmmakers wanting to create a version Bram Stoker's story--one of the defining tales of the horror genre--have had to deal with masterful precursors deeply ingrained in the public's consciousness. Even Browning had to compete with F. W.(read more...)

I'm not in with the in crowd who thinks that, almost by definition, sequels are inferior to their precursors, partially because I didn't pick up my ideas about criticism from the Scream films. But I think it's worth commenting how much more I liked Aliens than their mother Alien. While I don't think the sequelitis syndrome has merit, I also don't routinely find sequels an improvement by more than a couple points. In this case I did, and only a few surface flaws-a touch of stereotype here, a bit of a hammy performance there (mainly Private Vasquez and the cigar-chomping Marine squadron leader)-disabled me from giving Aliens a perfect score, which I felt it should have earned.(read more...)

Here's another film, like The Exorcist, that I have to rate highly because of its historical status more than its value in isolation. In isolation, or, at least seen outside of its particular place in history - say, if it had come out a year or so, instead of 20, after precursors like It! The Terror from Beyond Space, so that It! appeared to be the groundbreaker and template instead, then I would give Alien a lower rating.(read more...)